Household device for washing, smoothing and drying articles of apparel, underwear clothing and the like

ABSTRACT

A device for laundering articles and particularly for household use in which a container is provided with an access opening capable of being opened and closed, a plurality of support members within the container for supporting articles in a freely hanging condition and a set of nozzles for supplying detergent and rinsing liquids within the container below the freely hanging articles, the nozzles having orifices for vertically directing the liquids upon the freely hanging articles for cleansing and rinsing purposes as well as effecting a shaking of the articles and preventing the articles from sticking together and means for imparting controlled movement to said nozzles.

United States Patent Mazza [451 May 23, 1972 CLOTHING AND THE LIKE [72] Inventor: Lamberto Mam, Pordenone, Italy [73] Assignee: Industrie A. Zanussi S.p.A., Pordenone,

Italy 22 Filed: Mar.23, 1970 [21] Appl.No.: 21,750

3,023,598 3/1962 Bellmann et al. ..68/205 R 3,181,750 5/1965 Helliwell et a1 ..68/205 R X 3,114,919 12/1963 Kenreich ..,.68/205 R X 3 ,O49,903 8/1962 Sussman .68/5 C 2,732,701 1/1956 Smith et al ....68/20 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 289,206 10/1931 Italy ..134/176 Primary ExaminerWilliam 1. Price Attorney-Holman & Stern [5 7] ABSTRACT A device for laundering articles and particularly for household use in which a container is provided with an access opening capable of being opened and closed, a plurality of support members within the container for supporting articles in a freely hanging condition and a set of nozzles for supplying detergent and rinsing liquids within the container below the freely hanging articles, the nozzles having orifices for vertically directing the liquids upon the freely hanging articles for cleansing and rinsing purposes as well as effecting a shaking of the articles and preventing the articles from sticking together and means for imparting controlled movement to said nozzles.

9 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAY 23 1972 v 3,564,159

sum 2 or 5 INVENTOR. L Am a 5: n 074:!

flr-roanavs PATENTEDMAYZB I912 3,664,159

SHEET 3 [1F 5 INVENTOR. I, Amaze" m 2 BY W Arrweusr;

PATENTEDMAYZB m2 3,664,159

INVENTOR. nmefidra Mazzn I IM DM PATENTEDHAY 2 3 m2 SHEET 5 UF 5 INVENTOR. 411m BEA ro MA :10

BY M D flr-ranu: r:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a device, and more particularly a household device, intended for washing, smoothing and drying laundry, articles of apparel and the like.

Devices of the kind are known, comprising a container which can be closed like a cupboard, a plurality of supporting members in said container and on which the articles to be treated are arranged in the final desired shape, a set of sprinkling nozzles for spraying a detergent and a rinsing liquid on the articles and means for causing air to be circulated in the interior of the container in order to dry the washed articles.

These devices favorably distinguish over the immersion washing systems, inasmuch as they prevent the formation of creases and wrinkles during washing and facilitate, or even render unnecessary any subsequent ironing operation, thus allowing the articles to take a desirable crease and smoothing, so that the articles become available ready for use.

In a device of the kind referred to above, as disclosed and shown in the German Pat. No. 447,827, the articles to be treated are affixed to supporting members having the shape of rectangular frames vertically arrayed within a container. Between adjacent frames, tubes are mounted on a horizontally shiftable slide, with these tubes being equipped with sprinklers confrontingly arranged relative to the frames so as to sprinkle a detergent or rinsing liquid onto the laundry items.

The German Pat. No. 167,393, moreover, discloses a device comprising a container in whose interior is mounted, for rotation about its own vertical axis, a supporting member in the form of a rotatable platform having horizontal spikes to which the articles to be treated are hung. Sprinklers arranged in fixed locations, at the respective levels of the ceiling, the bottom and the sidewall, in the interior of the container, sprinkle a detergent and the rinsing liquids onto the articles to be treated.

The conventional devices of the kind referred to above have their operability restricted to spraying and saturating the articles to be washed with a detergent liquid by the agency of jets coming from the above and/or from bottom and/or from the sides and the relative motions of the articles with respect to the jets serve only for the purpose of causing all of the surfaces of the articles to be placed in front of the washing liquid jets. Practical experiments have shown that such a system is incapable of ensuring an adequate and satisfactory washing action.

Another device, disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,114,919 provides, in the interior of a container, supporting means to which the articles to be treated are loosely hung, means for vertically swinging the supporting means so as to give the articles hung thereto an oscillatory movement, and sprinkling means for spraying, from above, a washing liquid during the oscillatory movement aforementioned. In this device, the washing action of the detergent liquid which impregnates the articles to be laundered is supplemented by a mechanical action which encourages the removal of the dirt particles, with such an action being essential in order that satisfactory washing may be achieved. It should be observed, none the less, that the possibility of an efficient shaking of the articles to be treated, by vertically oscillating theirsupports is extremely limited inasmuch as comparatively low accelerations may be imparted to the articles, and these accelerations are insufficient to dislodge and release the dirt particles from the fabricsurface. In addition, the oscillations of the supporting members are undesirably transferred to the container and cause objectionable vibrations of the latter and produce a high noise level. Finally, such a system also involves considerable intricacy both from the constructional and functional standpoint, troubles in operation and high first and upkeep costs.

Actually, the movable supporting members, on taking into account the great weight of the hung articles which are impregnated with liquid, require particularly sturdy suspension members, powerful and bulky motive means along with specially provided oscillation-dampening contrivances.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is thus to the disadvantages and shortcomings of the conventional devices as known heretofore and to provide a device, more particularly for the household, for washing, smoothing and drying articles of apparel and the like while permitting excellent washing results and an improvement both from the constructional and the operability standpoints. This object is achieved, according to the invention, by a device, which. comprises adjacent the fixed supporting members to which the articles to be treated are loosely hung, movable sprinkling nozzles, with the nozzles directing their jets along substantially vertical directions.

It is apparent how the device according to the invention removes all the constructional and operational difficulties inherent in the conventional devices with movable supporting members for the articles to be treated. The movement of the sprinkling nozzles can be embodied with comparatively simple, cheap and non bulky means which do not require any constructional and operational intricacy and which can be easily applied to household appliances.

It should be noted that the mechanical action by an efficient shaking of the articles to be treated, loosely hung to their fixed supporting members is obtained, according to the invention, partly by said moving sprinkling nozzle and partly by the agency of the impact of liquid jets which, impinge with adequate kinetic energy on the surfaces of the articles. The device according to the invention may comprise sprinkling nozzles placed above the supporting members for the articles to be treated, with these nozzles spurting jets which strike the articles especially in the region close to the supporting members. In combination with the upper sprinkling nozzles, bottom sprinkling nozzles are provided in the vicinity of the container bottom wall. With both top and bottom sprinklers provided, the former may have as their main task spraying a washing liquid onto the articles, whereas the latter may have as their principal object shaking the articles in question while preventing them from sticking together during the washing cycle, a trouble which would be encouraged, by jets impinging on the hung articles laterally.

As outlined above, the second set of sprinkling nozzles also can preferably be made movable. This result can be easily obtained with sprinklers which may be in the form of rotary sprinklers or with sprinklers consisting of one or more pipe sections carrying rows of nozzles and having motive means to impart oscillatory motions thereto.

The pulsatory operation of the sprinkling nozzles can be obtained, for example, by appropriate valve systems, or with a pulsatory or intermittent operation of a feeding pump.

A few preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of non-limiting examples, will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical perspective showing a device according to the invention.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show in a diagrammatical form, two sectional views, shifted angularly apart from each other through of a first embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatical illustration of a modification of a detail of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show, in two sectional views similar to FIGS. 2 and 3, an alternative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is diagrammatical detail view of a modification of the device of FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show, in two sectional views similar to those of FIGS. 2 and 3, a further embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view, similar to FIG. 5, of another modification of the present invention.

FIG. 1 1 is a diagrammatical perspective view, partly in section, of a detail of the device of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line XII- XII of FIG. 1 1 the view looking in the direction of the arrows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The device according to the invention comprises a container having the shape of a cupboard (FIG. 1) which has a door 1 1 and in which the articles 12 to be treated are arrayed, loosely hung to specially provided supporting rods 13.

A few precautions should be taken when loading the articles to be treated.

The articles 12 should be positioned on their supporting rods 13 distended so as to prevent the formation of undesirable creases, wrinkles, undulations and crimps. The shaped articles such as shirts should be positioned on supporting members having a shape matching that of the articles concerned. Larger sized articles, such as sheets, can be properly folded, thus achieving the twofold object of saving space and obtaining, on completion of the treatment, the articles already arranged in a form which is suitable for storage.

In any case, the articles should not form any pockets or baglike formations having their mouths facing upwards which are susceptible to collecting and retaining the dirt particles dislodged from any overlying surfaces. Stated otherwise, all the surfaces of the articles which have a vertical trend shall be open towards the bottom so as not to hinder the dumping of the dirt particles.

The gap between two consecutive supporting rods [3 shall be such as to allow an appropriate clearance between the hung articles so as to permit the free flow of the washing and the rinsing liquid and the flow of the drying fluid as well.

Finally, the articles such as 12 must preferably be pegged to their respective supporting rods with any conventional means so as to prevent the articles from dropping to the bottom of the container 10.

The supporting rods 13 are preferably mounted on a carriage 14 (FIG. 2) which can slide on rails 15 and can be withdrawn in order to facilitate the loading and unloading of the articles 12.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the articles are washed with the aid of two sprinklers l6 and 17 having the form of hydraulic whirls rotatable about their vertical axes and having sprinkling nozzles which direct liquid jets along substantially vertical directions. The first sprinkler 16 is housed in the ceiling of the container 10, above the supporting rods 13, with the second sprinkler 17 being housed in the bottom of the container 10 beneath a shielding grid 18. The grid 18 is foraminous and allows the washing and the rinsing liquid to seep, therethrough, with the same being true of the drying fluid, whereas the articles which possibly have been loosened from their supporting rods are retained.

The upper sprinkler 16 has, in this case, the main task of ensuring that a shower of detergent or rinsing liquid be evenly distributed among the articles 12 to be treated, these being thus enabled to become wetted thoroughly and to undergo a distending" or smoothing action by virtue of the liquid which is oozing downwards. The jets of the sprinkler 16 are preferably either of the open or the fanned-out type so as to ensure a thorough wetting of the articles.

The lower sprinkler l7, conversely, fulfils, in addition to an apparent task of wetting the articles, the main object of causing a shaking of the hung articles to occur. This action is of vital importance for dislodging and the removal of the dirt partitles from the articles being treated. The jets of the sprinkler 17 are, most appropriately, both more powerful and more concentrated than those of the sprinkler 16. They are directed, in practice, vertically and, by virtue of their whirling motion, they strike the surfaces of the articles on continuously variable points, originating a shaking of the articles and preventing them from sticking together during washing. The rotation of the hydraulic wheels about their vertical axes takes place in a known manner due to the dynamic reaction of the jets emerging from the sprinklers.

In the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the lower sprinkling assembly 17a consists of pipe sections having rows of sprinkling nozzles which receive a reciprocal movement by means of an eccentric controlled crank mechanism, in the direction of the arrows. In such a case, care should be taken that the nozzles do not impinge, during their motion, on the grid 18, with the shape and the position of the grid meshes being appropriately selected. The upper sprinkling assembly 16, of course, can have a reciprocal motion imparted thereto, as shown in FIG. 4 in connection with the lower sprinkling assembly. In addition, it has been experimentally ascertained that the washing action becomes particularly efficient whenever the operation of the sprinklers 16 and I7 is intermittent and/or alternating.

The sprinklers 16 and 17 are fed by a pump 19 (FIG. 3) which draws the liquid from the bottom of the container 10 and delivers it to the sprinklers. Should an alternating operation be desired for the two sprinklers, this can be obtained by a baffling device 20 serially punted in the delivery duct of the pump 19. The circuit for circulating the liquid has a first filter 21 arranged on the bottom of the container 10 to retain all of the dirt residue and the fabric waste, and a second filter 22 which carries out a finer filtering action for the liquid intended to feed the upper sprinkler(s).

The washing cycle takes place according to the conventional sequence, thus comprising a pre-washing, a washing and one or more rinsing cycles. The washing liquid is heated in any conventional manner, for example by means ofa heating element 23 mounted at the bottom of the container 10. On completion of the rinsing cycle, it is preferred that a further smoothing" or distending operation be carried out by the upper sprinkler 16 only. On completion of each washing and rinsing operation, the liquid is discharged by a pump 24 (FIG. 2) via a duct 25.

By so doing, no creases or wrinkles are imparted to the articles during the washing cycle and, in addition, the action of the jets from the upper sprinkler, in alternation with that of the jets coming from the bottom sprinkler smoothes out also the pre-existing wrinkles since both the detergent and the rinsing liquid, by oozing downwards through the fabrics, bring about an actual and efficient flattening of the articles. The shaking as introduced by the jets of the lower sprinkler, in addition, prevents the formation of preferential paths for the oozing of the detergent and the rinsing liquor towards the bottom, with the treatment of the articles thus becoming a uniform one.

Drying is preferably carried out by circulation of air which is drawn from the atmosphere by a blower 26 (FIG. 2), heated by an electric heater 27, and exhausted into the atmosphere again through an outlet port 28 which is properly shielded. During progress of an initial stage of drying, it is wiser that the hung articles be merely allowed to drop the liquid, a portion of the latter, which was retained by the fabrics being thus removed. Subsequently the blower 26 will be energized during an appropriate length of time so as to render the drying uniform while preventing an exceedingly high moisture content being set free into the ambient air. The time required for drying is, obviously, a function of the capacity of disposing of the moisture in the environment where the device has been installed.

On completion of entire treatment cycle the articles can be withdrawn from the container 10 and directly used, or stored without requiring any ironing operations since they are ready for wear.

Obviously, the device as described above requires the use of driving and control means, for example a programming timer and a pressure-stat and additional components, such as a detergent dispenser of a kind known per se, which are not a part of the present invention.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, parts corresponding to those shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are indicated by corresponding numerals, but increased by one hundred.

In this case, a single sprinkler 116 is provided, placed above the supporting rods 113 and consisting of a hydraulic wheel rotatable about its own vertical-axis and equipped with an appropriate number of sprinkling nozzles which direct liquid jets against the upper portions of the articles 112 hung to the supporting rods 1 13.

The assembly comprising the pump 119 and the sprinkling wheel 116 provides jets having an inclination and a kinetic energy which are sufficient to impart the required jerks to the articles 112. Possibly, the wheel can have nozzles of two kinds in order to produce fanned-out jets and thus ensure a uniform distribution on the fabrics, along with more concentrated liquid jets to produce the vigorous shaking of the fabrics in the impact points.

FIG. 7 shows a modification of this embodiment in which, instead of the sprinkling wheel 116, an arm 154, is provided, which rotates about axis 151 and carries one or more sprinkling wheels 155 which rotate about secondary axes parallel to the axis 151. By so doing the drawbacks sometimes exhibited by a sprinkler of the wheel type such as 116 are done away with, that is the shortcoming of an insufficient shaking of the fabrics in the area lying in the immediate neighborhood of the axis of rotation because of the lower surface velocity of the nozzles placed along a circumference having shorter radius. This drawback is not experienced in correspondence with the axes of rotation of the sprinkling wheels 155 by virtue of the rotation of the arm 154. In this embodiment, a blower 158 as in FIG. 5 may be provided for drying which causes air to be circulated in a closed loop in the interior of the container 110 and to be heated by an electric heater 157. Moisture is condensed in the jacket 100 where, for example, jets of cold water coming from a sprinkler 101 provide to demoisturize the air. A port 156 which is a vapor-venting hole, may also be provided as in FIG. 5.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a single top sprinkler is provided, which comprises a horizontal pipe 260, having sprinkling nozzles 261A and 2618 arranged along two parallel rows, parallel with respect to the supporting rods 213 and set at an appropriate angle.

The pipe 260 is the upper end of a feed pipe 262 which can be oscillated around a horizontal axis 253 by virtue of a universal joint 263 connecting it to the delivery side of the circulation pump 219. To oscillate the tube 262, an assembly comprising a connecting rod 266 and an eccentric 265 is provided, with the eccentric being driven by appropriate motive means (not shown). It should be noted that, in this case also, the speed of oscillation of the tube 262 and thus the sweeping speed of the nozzles 261A and 2618 must be such as to ensure the appropriate and desired degree of shaking of the articles 212 hung to the supporting rods 213.

It should be noted that the component parts of this device which have not been individually described correspond to those shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and are indicated by the corresponding numerals increased by one hundred.

Considering, lastly, FIGS. 10, 11 and 12, wherein component parts corresponding to those shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are indicated by the corresponding numerals increased by 200, a circulation pump 319 feeds, via a pipe 362, a sprinkler 371 which comprises a plurality of pipe sections 372 having spraying slits 373, with the tubes 372 being extended through the whole length of the depth of the container 310, parallel to the supporting rods 313, or at least along a considerable portion thereof. The tubes 372 are fed by a distributing manifold 374 which houses a rotary cylinder 375: the latter is actuated by motive means 305 and carries windows 376 which are adapted to establish, in a sequence, a communication with the feed of liquid from the pump 319 via the tube 362. In the example shown such a sequence is obtained by an appropriate rotation of the cylinder 375 about its own axis. By so doing,-

the result is that the jets emanate according to a preselected sequence from the slits 373 of the sequentially arranged tubes 372 and, simultaneously, the jets of liquid are directed in an ap ropriate manner.

t is clear that the systems provided according to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and 10, 11 and 12, respectively, can be adopted also for the lower sprinklers.

While the invention has been described with reference to a few preferred embodiments thereof, it is obvious that any additional modifications, changes and combinations can be introduced therein without departing from the scope of the in vention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A device for laundering articles and particularly for household use, including a container having an access opening capable of being opened and closed and through which articles to be laundered may be admitted and withdrawn, a plurality of support members mounted within the container for supporting articles in a freely hanging condition, and a set of nozzles for supplying detergent and rinsing liquids mounted within the container below the freely hanging articles, said nozzles having orifices for vertically directing the liquids for detergent or rinsing purposes upon the freely hanging articles and also effect a shaking thereof and preventing the articles from sticking together, and hydraulic means to impart controlled movement to said set of nozzles.

2. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 in which said set of nozzles is defined by tubes and said movement imparted by the hydraulic means is an oscillatory movement.

3. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 including an upper set of nozzles located within the container above the support members, said upper set of nozzles being of the open type.

4. The laundering device as claimed in claim 3 in which said upper set of nozzles is provided on an arm, and said arm being mounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis passing through an end of the arm.

5. The laundering device as claimed in claim 3 in which said upper set of nozzles is provided on an arm, said arm being mounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis passing through the middle region of the length of the arm.

6. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 in which said set of nozzles includes means for an intermittent feed.

7. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 including a shielding grid mounted within the container between the freely hanging articles and the set of nozzles.

8. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 in which said plurality of support members include horizontal parallel rods, a carriage to which said parallel rods are mounted, and horizontal rails within the container on which said carriage can slide to permit the withdrawal of the supporting members from the container.

9. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 in which the movement of said set of nozzles is rotation about a substantially vertical axis. 

1. A device for laundering articles and particularly for household use, including a container having an access opening capable of being opened and closed and through which articles to be laundered may be admitted and withdrawn, a plurality of support members mounted within the container for supporting articles in a freely hanging condition, and a set of nozzles for supplying detergent and rinsing liquids mounted within the container below the freely hanging articles, said nozzles having orifices for vertically directing the liquids for detergent or rinsing purposes upon the freely hanging articles and also effect a shaking thereof and preventing the articles from sticking together, and hydraulic means to impart controlled movement to said set of nozzles.
 2. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 in which said set of nozzles is defined by tubes and said movement imparted by the hydraulic means is an oscillatory movement.
 3. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 including an upper set of nozzles located within the container above the support members, said upper set of nozzles being of the open type.
 4. The laundering device as claimed in claim 3 in which said upper set of nozzles is provided on an arm, and said arm being mounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis passing through an end of the arm.
 5. The laundering device as claimed in claim 3 in which saId upper set of nozzles is provided on an arm, said arm being mounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis passing through the middle region of the length of the arm.
 6. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 in which said set of nozzles includes means for an intermittent feed.
 7. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 including a shielding grid mounted within the container between the freely hanging articles and the set of nozzles.
 8. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 in which said plurality of support members include horizontal parallel rods, a carriage to which said parallel rods are mounted, and horizontal rails within the container on which said carriage can slide to permit the withdrawal of the supporting members from the container.
 9. The laundering device as claimed in claim 1 in which the movement of said set of nozzles is rotation about a substantially vertical axis. 